Technology has made incredible advancements over the years, inching its way into all types of industries. Even exhibit design firms have found a way to incorporate technology into their custom displays. Here at The Exhibit Company, Inc., we use technology to create touchable 3D experiences. These displays welcome interaction and are effective at developing memorable encounters.

Exhibit design firms like The Exhibit Company, Inc. continue to find new ways to integrate technology into their designs. Let’s examine a few of the ways that these advancements are already being used in their creations.

Touchscreens Free Up Time and Resources

With the rise of smartphones and tablets,people are naturally comfortable using touchscreen devices. Therefore, when visitors walk past a display and notice a touchscreen, they are instantly drawn to it. Interactive touchscreens are effective at delivering information and adapting to each user. This technology is also cost effective and environmentally friendly. We never hesitate to use touchscreens in our displays to enhance the user experience.

Mobile Apps Allow for Effective Lead Capture

Trade show apps bring the best technology to exhibitors. These apps allow for lead capturing, optimizing event success and driving ROI. Having contact information stored in a neat, organized manner is far better than having a fish bowl of names. As exhibitors can more easily measure the success of their trade show events, they see the value they’re getting from attending conventions and investing in custom booths. You canfind some of our favorite lead capture apps in a previous post.

Digital Graphics Can be Adapted to Each User

We can’t ignore how good digital graphics have become over the years. Traditionally, printed materials were most popular for trade shows. The problem with printed materials is that they need to be re-printed for each show. This requires time and costs money. Digital graphics, on the other hand, are cost- and time-effective. Though the equipment can be an initial investment if not rented, digital displays can be used over and over again.

Technology Allows for Flexibility

Lastly, design firmslike ourselves have a greater degree of freedom and flexibility because of advancements in technology. We can serve our clients better and provide individualized, immersive experiences. For example, custom smartphone apps offer newways for exhibitors and visitors to connect and displays can be tailored to each person’s needs. Additionally, online tools such as social media and email are helpful for engaging with audiences before and after the event.

Technology has significantly benefited the exhibit design industry. As exhibitors see a greater return from their investment, they won’t hesitate to take advantage of more trade show events. This means more business for exhibit design firms as well as the opportunity to build bigger, better booths.

In many cases, marketers miss the mark with their audience because they aren’t going deep enough. They may think like the customer, but only in a general frame of mind.

Let’s say that you own a company that sells shoes for toddlers and children. Your marketing team defines your target buyer as being a parent of a child or toddler. What’s important to this buyer is a quality shoe at a good price.

To get the brand message right, here are a few things to ask yourself.

Who are you trying to sell to?

What does your company do better?

Why should customers care about your product?

Who Are You Selling To?

Always be specific about who you want to sell to. It allows you to concentrate on a specific type of person and their motivations for buying your product. In this case, you could narrow down “parents” to “moms.” You’re more likely to sell to a mom, so why not speak to her directly?

Other factors to consider about your target buyer are her age, how many children she has and her interests. Does she work full-time and need a durable shoe for her child’s daycare? Is she a stay-at-home mom that relies on a sturdy shoe for parks and playdates? Also think of her pain points. Is she tired of buying shoes that fall apart?

What Makes Your Product Better?

The next step is to list out the ways that your product is different – better. Can your shoes be thrown in the washing machine? Are they comfortable? Blister free? Waterproof? Rather than listing off the features and benefits of your product, tell a story. Storytelling is a powerful marketing tool that pulls people in and encourages them to connect with the brand – and ultimately – the product.

Why Should People Care?

The last step is to understand why a person would care about your product. Kid shoes are certainly not hard to find, so why would a mom want yours? Fortunately, if you are successful at defining your target buyer and sharing a touching story, the last puzzle piece falls into place.

Producing a resonating brand message is harder than it looks. The key is to become one with your audience and truly think about things from their perspective. When you do develop your brand message, remember to be consistent. Your audience will expect the same voice in all of your promotional materials.

In an ideal world, your company would provide you with measurable goals and objectives for gathering leads, adding contact info to the corporate database and reaching out to customers through a drip email campaign. Because most of us don’t live in bliss, we’ve included practical tips to help you skyrocket more leads into sales.

Let’s dig in!

Define What a Lead Means to Your Company

You can’t quantity, qualify or measure leads until you clearly define what one is. Everyone on your marketing and sales teams must come to an agreement as to what describes a trade show lead. Generally speaking, most companies consider a lead to be a sales contact or person who expresses interest at the trade show. If this is the case, you only need to add contact names into your database. Your company should also be more specific, identifying criteria that makes a person qualified or not.

Set Attainable Goals

The two things you should consider when setting attainable goals are the size of your target audience at the event and how many prospects you can realistically engage with. Don’t automatically assume that your sales reps will always engage with a new person. Your reps will need breaks, and some contacts will take more time conversing with you than others.

Choose an Appropriate Lead Gathering System

There are many ways to capture lead information. Choose a lead management system that aligns with your objectives. For example, if all you want to do is fill your database with names, scan badges into your database. If you want to qualify your leads, you will need a more elaborate system that captures this information. Also, be clear about how the contact information will be entered to prevent duplicates or inconsistent information.

Ask Booth Attendants About Follow-Ups

You already know that not all leads are created equal. Some are just stopping by for the free lanyards. Others may have thought they were interested, but it turns out they’re not. Consider asking visitors if they want a follow-up by your company. Although some will most likely say no, others will say yes. This gives you the opportunity to follow up with people who are genuinely interested in your products and services.

The last step is to distribute lead information to your sales team. Every company has a different process for following up with leads. Though the sales teams tend to get the recognition, your exhibiting program should receive love too! Designing an exhibit, standing on your feet for 10+ hours and engaging with contacts is tough work, yet essential to your brand’s survival.

Every brand wants to leave a lasting impression on new customers. This is how you develop meaningful relationships and bring loyal customers on board. It can be difficult to create great impressions on that very first experience though if you do not know the proper steps to take. Your first interaction with a new customer can be brief, and it’s hard to share everything you want in a few seconds. That’s why you have to think deeply about creating total brand experiences that make people feel something.

Let’s look at a few of the ways that you can leave lasting impressions on new customers so that they want to come back and do business with you.

Send a Personal Note

People like to be noticed and appreciated. With so many businesses to choose from these days, including those halfway around the world, consumers know they have the power to select any company they want. Be careful not to take customers for granted. If they gave you a few minutes of their time at your last trade show event, send them a personal note.

Here are a few tips for creating the perfect correspondence and working toward a personal relationship.

Make it heartfelt

Send it from an actual person

Thank the customer for their time or business

Offer a Welcome Gift

Everyone loves free gifts, but in an increasingly digital age, physical gifts are rare. Even the most simple gifts – a pen and pad of paper – can speak volumes. A word of caution: don’t re-gift the same products that you handed out at your last exhibit. Promotional products have their place in terms of generating brand awareness. Welcome gifts should be sent from the heart of your company and recognize the customer, not your company.

Ideas include:

Magazine subscriptions

Gift cards

Discounts to share with friends and family

Food from your business’ hometown

Concert or movie tickets

Create a Simple Onboarding Flow

User Onboarding guides the customer through the first steps they need to take inside of your product. By creating an easy process for the customer to follow, you show them that you respect their time and want to make things easy for them. This is an important sign for the customer, as it shows they’ve chosen a business that is watching out for their needs. Simple instructions and clickable boxes are effective at getting customers to convert.

Remember just how important these small tokens of appreciation are. A first impression can last forever and set you apart from your competitors. This is an untapped niche to break into, as many companies don’t focus on that first impression. But you can.

Creating a brand identify is the easy part. Creating a total brand experience is the hard part.

A brand identity is how you want others to perceive your brand. It includes many components such as your logo, tone, tagline and typeface. A brand experience, on the other hand, is what causes people to feel emotion toward your brand.

How Disney Has Created an Experience – Not Just an Identity

Consider Disney. People don’t just see Disney and think Mickey Mouse or 2-hour tearjerkers in the movie theaters. They feel Disney. Many of us can agree that Disney brings us back to our childhoods. Seeing families posed in front of the castle reminds us of our own vacations as kids.

If you’ve ever been to the theme park, you’ll find that the Disney brand is etched into every experience, from the hotel rooms to the restaurants to the transportation. Everything done at the park is tied into the Disney experience, which is why people are able to fully immerse themselves in this culture that is separate from Florida.

As wonderful of a job as Disney does creating this experience, it couldn’t happen without its employees. The “Most Magical Place on Earth” isn’t going to be joyful if the employees are rude. All Disney staff realize their role in supporting the overall mission of the company.

How You Can Build a Brand Experience

Disney is an exceptional example of a company that has achieved a high level of branding, but that doesn’t mean your smaller business can’t learn a thing or two. Let’s dive into some of the ways that you can create a complete experience that humanizes your brand and engages consumers.

Think Holistically. The experience you provide customers with needs to be consistent and complete. Consistency means that customers know what to expect each and every time, while completeness requires that you give attention to each and every touchpoint.

Execute Tonality. Your tonality should be consistent with your marketing, otherwise you won’t be able to emotionally connect with your customers. Your tonality – or personality – should always be a conscious effort.

Include Your Employees. Much of your brand’s personality will come from your employees. Your friendly website doesn’t mean anything if customers aren’t welcomed by a friendly team. Include your employees in your decision making, whether it’s coming up with design elements like signage, ways to support the company or ideas for a custom trade show booth.

Enlist Key Leaders. It’s important to have key leaders throughout your organization, as these individuals have a deep understanding for your brand promise. Any new store launchings, product campaigns or trade show events should be led and supported by these key individuals.

Refresh the Experience. While consistency is vital to the brand experience, you must balance this with innovation. Customers need their experiences refreshed so that they are constantly engaged, and you’re able to bring in new audiences all of the time.

You don’t attend a trade show to sit in the corner and watch people walk by. You attend one to draw crowds to your new, unique trade show booth, generate leads and develop relationships. So how can you attract attention at a noisy and crowded event? Put your trade show signage to good use!

Below are a few tips to help you make the most of your trade show experience. By maximizing the use of your signage, you alleviate the stress on yourself to attract people and ensure that your exhibit is getting noticed by the right people.

Go Custom

Picture yourself being an attendant at a trade show and walking down rows of booths. This gets redundant and repetitive, so it’s smart to shake things up. The best way to be different is to have a custom trade show exhibit created for you. Though you want to keep your branding consistent (colors, font, messaging), custom signage gives you control over the design.

Use Bright and Bold Colors

Your signage needs to make smart use of color. Of course, you want to keep your color palette consistent with your marketing materials, but you can use them in creative ways to draw interest. Let’s say your brand’s colors are red, green and blue. Instead of using all three colors on your displays, apply one color to each sign. This looks crisp, clean and sophisticated, plus helps deliver your message with simplicity.

Incorporate Lighting

Lighting is an excellent companion to your trade show signage. By placing natural lighting on your signs, you can make them stand out against the crowd. The right lighting can also draw attention to your exhibit and give your signage a fresh and unique appearance. If you have a display booth built, you can incorporate the lighting into the signage for an even greater effect.

Tell a Story

Another way to grab attention through your signage is to tell a story or allow your visitors to engage in one. For example, you can set up a series of roads and road signs for guests to “travel” on. Each step of the way can be something unique to your brand, such as an explanation of your product and how it can be used in the person’s life. Interactive storyboards also work well for this purpose.

Trade show signage is what many people will see first, so it’s crucial that it’s large, vibrant and well designed. Working with an exhibit design firm is helpful because you have control over the creative process. You can also use the signage for future events, or you can rent it for a limited amount of time. Call The Exhibit Company, Inc. to learn more about growing your brand through effective signage.

Engaging today’s customers is more challenging than ever before. You need to know the specifics on your buyer persona, maintain an active online presence and be proactive about your customers’ needs. It’s a difficult role to maintain, but the end result is deeper, more meaningful relationships that extend beyond a simple transaction.

If you’re looking for more effective ways to engage your customers, think in terms of humanizing your brand. People prefer to do business with companies that they like and trust. When consumers are reminded that there are real people working behind the scenes to make things happen, it’s easier for them to trust you.

How can you humanize your brand to engage consumers? We’ve included a few tips below to get you started.

Create a Voice that is Personal

When people read your content, it should feel like you are talking directly to them. Even if your industry is about highly technical information, find a way to make it conversational. When content has a human element to it, people feel like you understand them. Therefore, they can trust you to fulfill their needs.

Build a Thriving Community

Staying active on social media allows you to build an online presence for your brand. Some of the best channels to use include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest. Use these channels to share fun posts, informational videos and other types of visual content. Don’t be afraid to show viewers what goes on behind the scenes. By doing this, you get people talking about your brand, ultimately bringing it to life.

Attend Trade Shows and Other Events

While there are many advantages to live streaming, nothing compares to face-to-face interaction. Don’t let technology stand in your way of attending trade shows and other events. It’s important to meet with customers, ask questions and demonstrate how your product works. In fact, consider working with a trade show booth manufacturer to create a custom exhibit.

Give Away Something of Value

Providing consumers with valuable information helps connect them to your brand. Think in terms of what potential customers would find helpful, not what your company finds interesting. If you sell B2B software, offering customers a free trial or demo of your product would be valuable. Simply talking about the software’s features wouldn’t be enough to help someone make an informed decision.

With competition high and consumers having to split their time between brands, it can be difficult to get noticed and develop meaningful relationships. Make sure that you are taking every step to humanize your brand and utilizing offline channels as well.

Transmedia storytelling is multiplatform storytelling. It is the technique of sharing a narrative across multiple media platforms (film, online, print, social networks, stage, television, etc.) where unique content is presented via each individual platform. It is also sometimes referred to as cross-media seriality or transmedia narrative. Transmedia storytelling can even involve simpler presentations over just a few low-tech media platforms.

A transmedia production engages an audience by developing a story across numerous forms of media in a way that presents unique content in each one. It creates a brand that can reach global readers, users and audiences in a number of different platforms. This is due in part to its appeal to different learning styles including visual, aural, verbal, social, and solitary.

Fully Participatory

Another benefit to this approach is that it is fully participatory. Online sources agree that the target audience will more easily become actively involved with the product brand. The audience is now transformed. Each member is now a participant or even a creative and social collaborator. They suddenly hold a stake. They now have an emotional investment in the brand.

A Stronger, Self-Promoting Picture

Transmedia storytelling involves users from a broad perspective. It tells the tale about a specific product or brand through the all-encompassing use of any and all media and design to present the event attendees, and consumer base, a complete picture of what a company’s brand is all about. Every single bit of copy or image can also have its own sub-plot and tell its own story.

Even a slogan on trade show signage at an exhibit event can allow the brand to present itself. It is imperative that your brand is reaching as many people as possible through multiple channels. After some consumer research, discover what media channels are the most engaging for your industry and start planning some new media techniques. The return will be eye-opening.

It takes a couple of seconds to realize the difference between poorly designed graphics and graphics that pop and capture your attention. Making sure that your graphics are well designed is vital for all aspects of your business from your branding and display advertising, to marketing. A well designed image can support your message while a badly designed image can actually detract from your message. At an event, your trade show signage needs to capture the attention of passing, often distracted, attendees. Here are some of our favorite techniques to bring your graphics to life.

Tip #1: Don’t Underestimate the Power of Blank Space

One of the biggest mistakes that we see is people overwhelming their graphics. They overdesign it which makes the image look really busy. This makes it hard for a person to focus and figure out what the image is about which often leads to it being ignored. Blank space helps highlight your message as well as the images used in the design. It allows people to quickly ‘get’ what your image is about.

Tip #2: Maximize Typography

If you want your image to speak to your audience, you want to make use of typography. Try to go with a font that has great readability and has character. You want to try to avoid fonts that are used frequently to help you stand out. You also want to vary your copy by using underlines, italics, and various weights to differentiate aspects of your message and highlight important elements. For example, the headline should be bolder and bigger than the following words in the message.

Tip #3: Use Contrasting Colors

Using contrasting colors will help you accentuate your overall presentation when done correctly. Colors can help support your message while also pointing attention to specific parts of your copy. However, there are some general rules to follow. The colors should not clash with the message or general theme. Some businesses may also want to stay within their brand’s colors to maintain familiarity. The idea here is to be compelling with contrast rather than be contradicting.

Tip #4: Optimize Graphics for Various Sizes

Graphics that look fine on smaller layouts may come out as blurry and grainy on larger layouts. To avoid this problem, you want to start out with a high quality image. High quality graphics stay intact even when they are scaled to bigger sizes. You should think twice about using images from the search engines and use high quality stock photos if necessary.

Tip #5: Use Specialists for Your Designs

Most business owners will obviously end up hiring a designer for a project. The problem with this is that they think that any designer can work on any kind of project. For example, billboard ads, catalogs, websites, or even trade show signage all have different subtleties that can make or break the design. If you were planning to set up a trade show booth, a smart idea would be to consult with a specialist as they are expert trade show booth designers. If there is a lot riding on your project, always go with a specialist even if you have to pay a small premium.

You can do anything from gathering a group of people in your industry before the show or setting up a small dinner after the show to improve your networking odds and speak in a more relaxed environment. If you go to sites like Meetup.com or subscribe to industry newsletters, you’ll often find that there are pre and post events that you can attend as well.

Effective communication is incredibly important at an event where you’ll be meeting many people. You want to make sure that you have an elevator pitch to explain who you are and what your company does so that you can respond effectively. You also want to have the right questions ready so that you can figure out if the person you’re talking to is somebody you may want to do business with. Questions like “what kind of vendors are you looking for?” and “what are some of the challenges you’re having in your business?” are some examples of great ways to figure this out.

Set Up a Lead Capture and Follow Up System

If you’ve had a great interaction with somebody that can be a possible client or business partner, you should have a lead capture system ready to send them information and continue following up with them. Simply ask them if they’d like to be added to your newsletter or list. Also, make sure you get their phone numbers and remember the specific details so that you can personalize your message for the next time you get in touch.

Just Be Social

While this sounds simple, many attendees often forget about being social and treat the trade show as one giant pitch fest. You want to check out other booths, talk to different vendors, attendees or even members of the exhibit design firms. It is important to connect with people as much as possible. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. You’ll find that sales, referrals, and partnerships will often result from being social and forming relationships. They seldom result from a single contact.

This March, news broke that the massive video game trade show E3 was considering a major, controversial change ­­opening their doors to the public.

The rumors cut to the heart of a major issue in the trade show industry, an issue without any clear answers. In essence, the governing body that manages E3 is asking a very fundamental question, who are trade shows really for, anyway?

Traditionally, conferences and trade shows were an opportunity for professional networking. Companies planned elaborate custom exhibit fabrications to show off new products, and trade show exhibit companies like ours have perfected the art of helping companies attract interested leads. However, several major shows have now rejected this entire model for trade shows. Instead of using these events as a venue for sales and professional networking, they are instead using trade shows as an advertisement to the public.

Now, E3 is facing the same conflict, essentially changing one of the world’s largest trade shows into a public conference for video game fans and professionals alike. Already, some of the biggest video game companies in the world are abandoning the trade show approach.

Wired reported that “Major publishers EA and Activision have pulled out of this year’s affair, opting instead for smaller, public-­focused showcases independent of the core E3, leading some to question the future of what was once seen as the main event on gaming’s calendar.”

E3 has evolved into the video game industry’s premier annual event. Each year in Los Angeles, video game makers compete to outdo each other with custom exhibits and unique trade show displays. So why the sudden change?

Comic­Con.

Just a couple hours south of Los Angeles you’ll find the San Diego Convention Center, which plays host to the annual mega nerd­fest known as Comic­Con. With video games more popular than ever, major game studios are taking note of the trend and pushing for a similar, public-­facing event instead.

“The consumer question is certainly part of the equation and one we will be taking a hard look at,” said Rich Taylor with the Entertainment Software Association, which governs E3.

“You saw last year, certain companies brought along some of their most valued customers. We will probably end up doing that again this year, and there will be some additional elements on top of that, that may or may not come.”

So is this a sign of things to come for other major trade shows? Should custom exhibit design firms get ready for a seismic pivot?

Not quite, and not just because companies need quality custom exhibit fabrications and trade show booth ideas whether they’re going to a professional trade show or a public conference. While film studios, the video gaming world, and the comics industry can benefit by selling general admissions tickets to an event for industry insiders, it’s less likely other fields will be able to replicate this approach.

The new year opened with two of the biggest conferences of the year, CES in Las Vegas and the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Over the years, attendees at conferences like these have been desensitized to a rather controversial sight, a creature colloquially known as the “booth babe.” Exhibitors desperate to draw eyes to their booths would hire a squad of buxom models to help hawk their wares.

However, it now seems that this trend is falling out of fashion.

On the last day of CES this January, PC Mag reported that “booth babes are a long-­standing tradition at CES. Word has it these ladies first made an appearance at CES back in the 1960s, but the moniker didn’t arrive until 20­-some years later, in the mid-­80s.”

Even so, times have changed since the 60s, and the magazine wasn’t the only outlet wondering if the tradition was finally becoming a relic. Many trade show pros feel the tactic is in poor taste. After CES 2014, TechCrunch called the practice “indefensible.”

But there’s another reason the phenomenon has become more rare: it doesn’t work. There’s a growing consensus that the so­-called booth babe simply does not convert leads. Period.

That’s a problem. Custom exhibit designs at trade shows can work wonders. Even in these digital times, a recent study by B2B Magazine found that event and trade shows were the second largest area of growth in media spending. That’s why every year, the average company will spend 31.6% of its marketing budget on events and exhibits, totaling more than $24 billion in the U.S. for trade show custom exhibit displays alone.

Why are booth babes falling out of fashion? Many exhibit design companies believe that booth babes make many attendees uncomfortable or anxious. And when they do bring people into the booth, they often acquire low quality leads, to say nothing of the visitors offended by the concept altogether.

San Diego Comic-Con has evolved from a small gathering of comic enthusiasts into one of the biggest media events in the world.

In recent years, Marvel and Disney have actually shut down production of their most expensive films simply to fly stars like Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans to San Diego, where fans will wait for hours just to be the first ones to catch a glimpse of a new superhero movie trailer.

Now, conference organizers around the world are cashing in on the Comic Con name by hosting comics conventions in places as far from Hollywood as possible, like Dubai, Glasgow, and Salt Lake City. That’s where one unfortunate comics enthusiast was arrested for impersonating a federal officer in a botched attempt to sneak into the convention’s VIP section. No, it wasn’t a strange cosplay gone terribly wrong.

Utah man Jonathon M. Wall worked at the Hill Air Force base, and he tried to use his base ID to con his way into the VIP room. Wall claimed that he was a federal agent hunting down a fugitive, and he needed access to the convention.

A retired police officer quickly called bull, for obvious reasons, and Wall was arrested. Unfortunately for him, Air Force investigators take the whole “impersonating a federal officer” thing seriously. That thing happens to be a serious felony offense, which can result in three years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

According to Comics Beat, the judge in the case took pity on the defendant and argued that the punishment outweighed the crime. While incredibly stupid, no one was hurt.

“The judge said Wall seemed like an otherwise law-abiding citizen, and she was concerned about his statement at a Tuesday hearing that investigators told him that he’d get a slap on the wrist if he cooperated. She also wasn’t sure if he agreed with prosecutors’ version of what happened or understood the long-ranging implications of a felony conviction.

‘I simply do not feel that I can make a finding that the plea was a voluntary and intelligent choice,’ [the judge] said. The judge offered to find a new attorney to review the case pro-bono. She pushed back against objections from prosecutor Carlos Esqueda, who denied that Air Force agents ever offered to go easy on Wall.”

All this trouble over a small-town, regional comics convention. It’s not clear if the fans attending these conventions realize they aren’t actually affiliated with the San Diego event, and attendees aren’t likely to rub elbows with their favorite stars.

As much as trade show exhibit companies might wish otherwise, it’s simply not possible for your average regional convention to compete with events like San Diego comic con, where some of the biggest entertainment companies in the world spend a fortune on custom exhibits.

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The Exhibit Company, Inc.

With innate creativity, original designs, and efficient technology, we conceive and create extraordinary displays— tradeshow booths, store environments, strategic events, and more — that bring your brand to life.